As Canadians increasingly embrace electric vehicles, the collision repair industry is seeing the impact.
Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), also known as zero emission vehicles, account for over 10% of all new vehicle registrations in Canada, according to the Canada Energy Regulator.
And more electric vehicles on the road means more EVs in repair shops, a new industry report shows.
Claims frequency for repairable BEVs rose 3.84% in Canada in 2024 — a year-over-year increase of 34%, according to the report by Mitchell International, a claims and collision software company.
Claims frequency for both mild hybrid electric vehicles (MHEV) and PHEVs also grew by 24% in Canada in that same period.
Further, claims severity for BEVs also rose to $7,241 in Canada, up 2% from the year prior. For MHEVs and PHEVs, severity rose to $6,104 and $6,261 respectively.
“In addition to an uptick in the number of claims for repairable, collision-damaged BEVs, we also saw an uptick in the number of total losses last year,” Ryan Mandell, Mitchell’s director of claims performance says in the company’s EV Collision Insights Report 2024.
Losses for Canadian BEVs are happening more often, rising to 8.7% in 2024, from 5.9% in 2023.
“While not unique to BEVs, this increase in total loss frequency can be attributed to the continued overall decline in vehicle values and surge in catastrophic claims activity in the second half of 2024,” Mandell says.
Related: Impact of tariffs on electric vehicle adoption
In North America, British Columbia (at 7.64%) is the top BEV market based on repairable claims frequency, followed by California (5.59%) and Quebec (5.68%).
British Columbia and Quebec (both provinces with low electricity prices and more generous ZEV incentives), see ZEV adoption at almost double the national average — accounting for about 20% of new vehicle registrations in those regions, according to the Canada Energy Regulator.
The share of new ZEVs in those regions is particularly high for passenger cars and multi-purpose vehicles, at 20%-to-30%.
In Canada, Mitchell’s report says the top five BEV models by claims frequency in 2024 are:
- Tesla Model 3: 32.72% (down 8.03% from 2023)
- Tesla Model Y: 25.91% (up 4.60% from 2023)
- Hyundai Kona EV: 4.53% (down 0.91% from 2023)
- Chevy Bolt: 4.43% (down 0.79% from 2023)
- Ford Mustang Mach-E: 4.19% (up 0.77% from 2023)
Of the top five, the Tesla Model 3 and Tesla Model Y are also the best-selling EVs in North America, according to Rho Motion.
Feature image by iStock.com/shaunl
